


Sea of Love

by magnificent_catastrophe



Series: Zombie AUs [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Amputation, Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Angst with a sad ending, Attempted Murder, Biters, Bloaters, Cannibalism, Cannibalistic Thoughts, Established Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Established Relationship, Gen, Horror, Killing, Killing Each Other, Lots of fucked up shit, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Murder, Nothing goes right, Other, Physical Disability, Physical Trauma, Psychological Horror, Psychological Trauma, Sad Ending, Side Romance, Sorry Not Sorry, Suicide, Supernatural Elements, Tanks, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, The Mother - Freeform, Tragedy, Witches, Zombie Apocalypse, Zombies, creepers, nothing ever goes well, spitters, this was going to be more romantic than what it turned out to be, this was more angsty than romantic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-07-18 02:39:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16109069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnificent_catastrophe/pseuds/magnificent_catastrophe
Summary: The members of Flight Squadron Defender 167 are family. They fight and die together, and no one gets left behind. Not even in this post-apocalyptic state that the United States is in.They've been fighting this war for months, but only recently did it get out of hand. Unfortunately, not everyone's equipped to handle survival when it comes down to it.





	1. Bon Mattpetit!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kaishiru](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaishiru/gifts).
  * Inspired by [[Zombiestuck] Sea of Love](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/419951) by Alexissam. 



> Hi!  
> I highly recommend listening to "Sea of Love" by Cat Power while reading this series.  
> This work was based off a comic dub that used that song.

It's cold. It's wet. It's dark.

These thoughts ran through Shiro's head as he looked at Keith's sleeping form next to him. At the current moment, they were holed up in a room inside a building. A building that had the undead crawling both inside and outside it. He was glad for the moment of reprieve, but they were running low on rations.

Shiro looked to his other teammates, all of which were warriors. Part of his flight squadron from Defender 167, lovingly known as Voltron by all aboard. It was a big air rig that had smaller fighter planes inside. His team was his family now. Lance McClain, 19, the sharpshooter; good with a gun and good with aim, not so good with the ladies. Allura Altea, 20, the chemist; good with crafting chemicals and concoctions for the group, also good with doctoring. Katie "Pidge" Holt, 18, the tech; good with computers, not so good with coming out of her shell. Takashi Shirogane, 25, the captain; good with leading others, also very good looking, according to Keith. Coran Smythe, 38, the navigator; good with directions, not so good with shutting up. Hunk Garett, 19, the engineer; good with manning the engines and keeping them good, also a good cook. Matthew Holt, 24, the weapons expert; good with all things weapons, also good at calming down Pidge. Keith Kogane, 21, the stealth; good with getting to places without being caught, not so good with people.

All of these people. They were Shiro's family.

Shiro watched them all sleep, unable to sleep himself. They were trapped inside the building until they could find a way to safely escape. They needed to find provisions and a means of defense. Their guns had no ammo left to shoot the zombies outside.

Shiro looked down at Keith as his lover curled into him more. He needed to sleep or else he'd be too tired in the morning. With that thought in mind, Shiro closed his eyes and attempted sleep once more, body weary from the day's fight.

 

The sun peeked through the window, hitting Allura in the face at just the right angle to wake her up. She yawned and stretched awake before sitting up. She looked around to see her fellow comrades still sleeping peacefully. She smiled and decided to let them rest a little longer. She stood up and started to look around the room they had occupied the night prior. They didn't really have a chance to look around. It was late, and electricity wasn't a thing in most cities anymore. Not since the outbreak. She pilfered through cabinets and drawers as quietly as she could, searching, hoping to glean any sort of supplies. She gasped upon opening one cabinet. Water bottles! She picked up the pack and set it on a nearby table before continuing her search.

After rifling through everything she looked at what she'd manage to scavenge. A metal pipe, a pack of 24 water bottles, some soup cans, a lighter, a switchblade, and a flashlight. By the time she'd found it all, the others had started to wake up some too.

"It's not much, but it's better than what we have. We have soup to last us a few days and lots of water. We also have a flashlight now. I wish we had at least one more of those," Allura told her comrades once everyone had awoken.

"Does the flashlight even work?" Lance inquired as he took it and turned it on. Thankfully, the batteries in it hadn't corroded.

"How long have we been doing this...?" Pidge asked as she looked down at the floor sadly.

Everyone remained silent before Coran looked at his watch.

"The outbreak started in early June. It's now mid-November... so four and a half months..."

"That's... a long time to run away from something..." Keith looked at the floor, himself. As far as they knew, they were the only intelligent people who hadn't been zombified. But they were military. They would survive this.

"So... suppose we're the only ones left alive and we survive... somehow... how would we go about repopulating the Earth?" Lance questioned as everyone sighed.

"Isn't that obvious, Lance? Pidge and I would be the only ones capable of bearing children..."

"Woah, woah, woah! I don't like that thought! Pidge is just a-"

"Just a what, Matt? I'm 18. I'm old enough... the idea doesn't particularly appeal to me, but for the sake of humanity, I'd do it. Just as I'm sure Allura would. Just as I'm sure that even though Keith and Shiro are gay, they'd partake in repopulating the Earth. Let's pray that there are more people out there than us though."

Everyone fell silent once more before Shiro went over to the supplies and cut open the water bottles. "There's 24 bottles here and eight of us. We each get three bottles, that sound fair?"

Everyone nodded and started packing their rations of water into their respective backpacks.

"Let's see... it takes four cans to feed us all, one can per two people... how man cans of soup do we have?" Shiro looked over at the supplies.

"We have 11," Allura stated.

"So... 3 days almost if some of us are willing to get less to feed others," Shiro stated as he calculated. "Hunk and I will each carry two cans, the rest of you carry one so that way no one person is burdened with too many cans."

"Why do you two get two cans?" Lance asked with a quirked brow.

"Because we're the stronger of the group, physically, so we can handle it better. It may just be one can but over the course of scavenging, it'll become heavier," Shiro pointed out and Lance nodded in agreement.

"Makes sense."

"Keith, I want you to hold on to the switchblade, I'll hold on to the metal pipe and lead us out of here."

Keith frowned at Shiro. "We're not leaving until we have a solid plan that gets EVERYONE, including you, out of here safely and non-zombified."

Shiro sighed and looked at Keith intensely. "Keith, I know you're worried, but we don't really have any options. We have to go foraging for supplies in other buildings. We can't do that in here."

"But we need to distract the zombies. The Stalkers, Sprinters, and Walkers rely on sound, if we can direct them somewhere, they'll flock. The Vomiters and Spitters rely on sight, so if we threw something on fire somewhere, they'll follow it. Bloaters are easy. They don't react. Just don't touch them," Keith wrote down on a piece of napkin with a pen that still had some ink left.

"But... there's the other two kinds of zombies out there. The really scary ones," Hunk pointed out as he trembled at the thought of them. "I really don't wanna run into them. So how do we avoid them?"

"You're talking about the Witches and Tanks, right?" Keith asked as Hunk nodded rapidly. "Well, Witches are easy to find. They stay in dark areas, sensitive to light but easy to disturb. If disturbed, they go berserk. However, they also remain dormant and make a slight sobbing sound. So, if we stay quiet, we can hear them."

"Great. And those MASSIVE FUCKING MUTATED ZOMBIES!??" Lance screeched out.

Keith made a face and sighed out. "I don't know. They don't seem to have a weakness and bulldoze through even cars. They're strong. It's best to head for high ground when we see them. Get away. They're massive and fast, but we're faster. So, we'll have to avoid them."

"You're forgetting one type of zombie," Matt stated and drew a picture of it. "It's called a 'Licker'. They have elongated tongues that can wrap around a victim's neck and snatch them up. They're weak to sound. So, play something loud and they'll turn into writhing messes, but-"

"We'll attract a horde of three other types of zombies," Keith sighed out. "We really need to stock up on ammo. A metal pipe and a switchblade aren't going to help much."

"That's why when we get out of here, we're heading for the gun shop down the road. And just even further are the army barracks. We might find things in both of those places," Shiro pointed out as he took out the map they had and circled their destinations with Keith's pen.

"We'll also need some kind of vehicle to get around faster. No matter how fast Stalkers and Sprinters are, they aren't faster than a car," Allura stated.

"But Allura, won't the sound of the engine draw them to us?" Coran asked worryingly.

"Also, where are we gonna find a vehicle big enough for eight of us? We'd be lucky to find one that'll fit six," Pidge sighed.

"We'd need a van or SUV," Keith pondered.

"Well, we'll figure that out once we get some ammunition and find more rations," Shiro stated confidently. "Right now, we need to figure out how to even get to those locations. So, for now we-"

"Uh, guys! How's <i>that</i> for a vehicle?"

Everyone turned to where Lance was point out the window and down the street. Right in front of the army barracks was a bus.

"Could work. Hopefully, it's in working condition," Pidge nodded.

"Well, I am an engineer! I'm sure I can think of something if it's not!" Hunk grinned.

"Alright. First to the gun shop, then to the army barracks. Or main priority during this is finding ammunition and usable weapons. While in the gun shop, look for silencers. We'll need them. When in the barracks, look for weapons, ammo, food, anything really. The barracks will be used for anything useful. We can even use it as a resting point because we will have to fight... more than likely..."

 

"Shut the door! Lance shut the door!"

"I'm trying, Keith! Do you think it's easy to stop a horde!?"

With great effort, the door to the gun shop was closed and barricaded. Shiro looked at Matt and Hunk, commanding them to use wooden planks to barricade the windows. Once everything was said and done, a sigh of relief was had but only momentarily.

"Matt, come here!" Allura went up to Matt and looked at the bite wound on his arm. "Shit. Keith. Do you still have a machete?"

"Yeah-"

"Toss it here."

"What? You are NOT cutting off my arm!"

"Would you rather become one of THEM?"

Silence filled the room as Allura tied off Matt's arm above the bite. "We're not losing you." With that said, she looked up at Matt. "Close your eyes and bite your lip."

Matt looked away and bit his lip hard. Seconds later an arm fell to the floor and a pained Matt was doing his best to keep in his screams. Allura pulled out her sack and took out the medical kit. Thankfully, she hadn't had to use it yet, so it was fully stocked. She poured alcohol into a gauzed and placed it on the stub where Matt's arm had been. She then wrapped it up in a heavier dressing and tied it tight around the rest of Matt's arm.

"Until I can find a cauterizing tool or a sew, we'll need to keep changing your dressings every 6 hours until it heals..." Matt nodded and let out a breath.

Stomachs growled all around after the hell escapade they'd all just been on.

"I... hate to be <i>that</i> guy... but... Matt's arm is still fresh..."

Everyone looked at Keith, who was looking down in disgust at himself for even thinking of mentioning what he was about to suggest.

"We're on limited rations and we don't know when we'll run out. Why waste current rations when we have some, albeit disgusting, food right there...?"

"Woah, woah, woah! Keith! Are you suggesting cannibalism?" Lance quirked a brow. Keith remained silent.

"Even so. The arm is infected Keith, we can't-"

"If we cook it long enough, any infection will die."

Allura pondered that for a moment. "That... is true..." She looked to Matt apologetically. "Matt... it's your arm... you'll be eating it too if we go through with his..."

Matt sighed and gulped as he looked uncomfortable with the whole idea. "I... I don't like the idea, but I know Keith is right. Cooking it up will get rid of the infection and we can have sustenance for a day longer. Logically, it's the best course of action. Mentally..."

"Trust me, Matt. I'm not too keen on the idea, either, but I'm thinking about our survival here..." Keith looked at Matt who nodded back.

"I know you are. That's why... I say bon Appetit..."


	2. Silence is Never Golden

No one had been keen on eating Matt's roasted arm, but Keith had made a valid point. Pidge and Matt were the least comfortable eating said body part, but rationally they both knew it was the best course of action. Nobody said a word to each other that night, preferring silence as they all reevaluated their sanity and life choices.

In their own corner of the gun shop, Keith and Shiro lied next to each other. Keith remained silent as his thoughts plagued his mind. Shiro knew Keith was most likely beating himself up over something that was actually a logical suggestion.

"Babe..."

Keith didn't move, just focused on the wall with mold growing on it.

"Keith, I know you're upset, but we did the logical thing. I won't say it's right or wrong, but right now... there's a huge moral grayness in the world right now. None of us liked the idea, but we all went through with it. It's a bad world out there, but we all know you're just looking out for our survival..."

Keith rolled over to face Shiro. He was looking down, not directly at him. "I... I know that, Shiro. But the fact that it was the first thing I thought of... I feel like I'm becoming a bad person, and I don't want that..."

"You're not a bad person, Keith. One of us would've suggested cannibalism eventually. You're just sharper with the survival instincts than the rest of us. After all, you did spend two years in a jungle with your mom," Shiro pointed out as he placed a consoling hand in Keith's hair.

"That was out of necessity though. Mom and I got captured by bandits in the Middle East that wanted to kill me and sell my mom. We escaped, and we survived...."

"Exactly. It's the same. This is all out of necessity, too. The world's fucked up because science finally went too far and mutated a virus that should not have been mutated..."

A moment of silence passed before Pidge, from across the room spoke up. "Do you guys think it's just America, or... did it spread around the World?"

"They did try to quarantine it when it first broke out in Georgia, but the quarantine was unsuccessful, and it spread, rapidly. I know once Canada and Mexico caught wind, they closed their borders and became aggressive. Shooting anyone that tried to cross. I don't know if it escaped after that, because the United States took a turn. Chaos erupted, and laws were no more, then our president got infected, and everything went to Hell... I can't say that the rest of the world isn't in a similar shape, but we won't know until we find out..." Allura looked at the ceiling.

"True. But, with everything in pandemonium, we don't have cell phones or the internet anymore, so we can't check anything," Matt sighed.

"I do know one thing, we're somewhere in the middle of Nebraska. We could head north for Canadian borders or head south to Mexican borders. I have a compass, but it'll take months to get to either place with how slow we have to move. If we could find a working vehicle, we could move a lot faster, though gas might be an issue..." Shiro pulled out his compass and looked at it, musing the possibilities.

"Well, if we head south, I know Spanish. Most of my family's in Cuba," Lance stated from his corner next to Allura and Coran.

"Allura and I are from the UK, so we'd like eventually to head there."

"Our parents recently moved to Italy to embrace their heritage, so that's a stop I'd like to take," Matt smiled as Pidge nodded, both of them thinking about the reunion. "What about you Keith?"

"My dad died a long time ago, but my mother was away on a South Korean business trip. I don't think she came back when the plague hit. But once it really spread, all flights to the US were canceled, so she might still be in South Korea," Keith looked up at Shiro, waiting for him to tell his story.

"I'm an orphan, but my parents raised me in Japan for a small chunk of my life before we moved to the US. My mom was a U.S. soldier stationed in Japan, but she was half-Japanese to begin with... Uh, what about you, Hunk?" Shiro looked over his shoulder at Hunk.

"Ah, I'm from Polynesia."

"That's part of Oceania, isn't it? How close were you to Australia?" Lance looked over at Hunk in interest.

"Actually, I was raised on the Samoan Islands, so I was closer to Hawaii than Australia. In fact, my family took a lot of vacations there! We grew up in a small port town called Taulaga-Uta, which was on one of the two main Samoa land, not the American Samoan Island. It was between Apia, the main port city, and Faleolo, which was more of a ferry-shipping port from that land to the other land, closer to Fiji."

"Hey! When we get the chance, we should see if Alaska and Hawaii survived since they aren't directly connected to the rest of the US by land!" Pidge announced as she sat up quickly with a happy smile.

"It is possible they survived." Allura mused.

"For now, though, why don't we all get some shut eye?" Shiro smiled wearily before everyone nodded and fell asleep, unaware of what the future had planned.

 

Everyone woke up to Lance leaning over a trashcan and puking his guts. Allura was immediately by his side and rubbing his back.

"Lance, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine... I, uh... I guess last night's, uh... dinner, didn't agree with me..." He looked to the side.

Keith frowned a bit. "We all ate the same thing, Lance. We **all** ate Matt's fucking arm. And I'm pretty sure everyone else is doing okay."

Lance remained silent before shaking his head and looking down. "I... I'm sorry. I couldn't do it. It kept waking me up, reminding me of what I did. It was sickening. I'm not as strong as the rest of you..."

Keith tensed but inhaled quietly. He wasn't going to say anything.

Shiro shook his head. "No, it's okay Lance. These things happen. But sometimes we have to watch for our own survival. And survival may mean eating another person. It's horrible and no good person would willingly want to do it, but every smart person knows they may have to. And you're smart, Lance. Don't let your good heart be your doom."

Lance nodded and stood up with a 'thanks' muttered to Allura.

Everyone packed up their things in silence, not saying another word to each other. By the time they head out, the mood had gone from sour to a better mood of somber.

 

They were able to make a little headway over the next couple of days, walking a total of 75 miles south. They decided they were Mexico bound. From there, they could charter boats to Cuba and Samoa. Now since they were trying to stick to the roads, so they could easily spot a shelter, they really only made about 60 miles south progress.

However, Matt also started coughing, immensely.

"Matt, you okay...?" Pidge asked after another coughing fit from her brother. He nods and looks at her tiredly.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Pidge. Just got a bit of tickle in my throat..."

Allura frowned at him and went over, pulling off his bandages. "I need to rewrap your wounds. And this will also allow me to check for any sign of sepsis. I never found a cauterizing tool, so I have to make sure everything remains clean."

Matt nodded and let Allura check him out, laying his head back as they all sat down and took a small break inside of a small cabin. His head snapped forward when he heard the British woman gasp intensely. "What? What is it?!"

"Your arm! It's, oh my god. I was sure I was keeping it clean and rebandaged every day! How'd it get like this overnight!?"

Matt looked down and gasped, taking a step back - although that did nothing to actually get him away from the sight. The bottom of his arm was covered in yellow pus, the edges on the inside turning black from necrosis. His arm was infected with sepsis. "H-How do we cure this!?"

Allura was madly digging through her medical supplies. "I-I don't have any antibiotics! I don't even have base penicillin to help! We need to get to Mexico and fast!"

Keith was quickly scanning the area. "There! I see a car! Hunk, come with me to see if it's operational!" Hunk nodded and the two sprinted off.

With their luck, it'd be a no-go too. Thus far, every car they ran into was non-operational. Hunk immediately started checking it out first, he didn't want them to blow up because of it being rigged as a bomb instead. Once he found nothing out of the ordinary on the outside, he gave Keith a thumbs up to hotwire the car.

Keith immediately removed the plastic cover on the steering column, thankful it was an older vehicle, so this method of hotwiring would work. He located the wiring harness connector and, after looking in the owner's manual that was still in the glove box (thank whatever God existed), he pulled aside the battery, ignition, and starter wire bundle. He didn't have electrical tape so after stripping the insulation by peeling it back and twisting the battery wires, he replaced the insulation over top of it. He then connected the ignition and battery wires together before peeling back a half inch on the starter wire. He then sparked the battery wire with the starter wire to start the engine. Nothing happened.

"Hey, Hunk. Why isn't the engine starting?" He popped the hood, so Hunk could look inside.

"Dammit. Someone took out the battery and couple of the spark plugs. Unless we can find one in town, this thing's not gonna budge."

"Stay with the car, I'm gonna check that automotive shop. What size would it need?"

"Well it's a van so as long as you get something that'll fit in this spot and has a minimum of 800 cold-cranking amps, it'll say CCA on the battery, it should work. While you're in there, look for battery terminals, these ones got jacked, and-"

"I get it, look for some stuff for the car! Hey, Shiro! Come with me!" Keith hollered back to his boyfriend, who nodded.

"What's up, Keith?"

"We're ransacking that auto parts place," Keith pointed toward the building. "Hunk says the car's drivable it just needs a battery, some terminals, and couple spark plugs. Hey, Hunk, give me one of the spark plugs on it so I can match 'em up."

Hunk nodded and quickly unhooked the spark plug, tossing it to Keith.

 

Keith held out his gun as he took point, Shiro backing up his rear. "I hate how silent everything is. It spells disaster..." He kept his voice low, not wanting to make too many sounds. Shiro locked the door behind them. "First, let's clear out the area and lock everything down so we can spend a good amount of time finding what we need. Quick measurements say the base of the battery needs to be twelve inches by eight and a half inches long and no bigger than ten inches high with 800 CCA's..."

Shiro nodded in affirmations as they both swept the area for danger. When nothing came up, Keith locked every door and pushed a cart he'd found to the front. "I suggest grabbing as much as we can fit on that cart. Hunk was kind to jot down a list of stuff."

Shiro looked it over, "5W30 conventional oil, at least 8 spark plugs, spark plug wires, electrical tape, as many fuses as we can carry, two packs of wiring, a battery, battery terminals, heat-shrink tubing, conduits, fuel additives, a socket set, a hammer, a saw if they have one, a C-Camp, an alternator, a starter, the brightest bulbs for this car which he lists as H7 and H11 bulbs, a lug wrench, a tire repair kit, reels of hoses, a couple flex hoses, and hose clamps."

"He gave us quite a list..." Keith mused as he began matching up the spark plugs until he found one with the same thread count and height. He saw a gapper and yoinked that as well. He grabbed four boxes of four and dumped them on the cart as Shiro came back with a big enough battery. "He didn't say what kind of alternator or starter we need. I'll look for a book that specifies what kinda. This looks like an older store, so it might still use a bookkeeping system. Shiro, there's an electrical aisle over there, I think you'll find most of that list over there."

Half an hour passed by and Keith, thankfully, did find a book. He grabbed the alternator and starter based on VIN Hunk wrote down for them. Shiro grabbed all the electrical goods and the hoses. All that was left was fuel additive, the tools, and hose clamps. Another ten minutes and even that was collected.

"Hey, Shiro. They have snacks and a cooler. Let's see if any of it's good to take with," Keith pointed at the counter and then the cooler. "I'll look through the snacks if you wanna grab all the waters." Shiro nodded and with everything loaded onto that cart, they headed back to the car, that now had Matt and a few others loaded in it. "Here, Hunk. Do what you need to, Shiro and I are gonna load up the trunk."

It was another half an hour before Hunk got the car in working condition. Taking electrical tape to tape up the wires he'd fucked with earlier, Keith sparked the starter wire to the battery wire once again and the car came to life. Everyone piled in as Keith revved the engine, making sure not to stall it out. "Alright. Buckle up and let's go." Thankfully it WAS a van, so it could fit everyone plus their shit. Keith looked at the gas tank and sighed. "It's got three-quarters of a tank. It should get us pretty far before we have to find a place or other cars to siphon gas out of. Which, Hunk, I did grab a siphon and a few gas containers."

Hunk nodded in approval from the seat behind Shiro, who sat shotgun next to Keith. Lance and Coran sat next to Hunk in the middle row while Pidge, Allura, and Matt sat in the back row. Without another word, Keith put the car into drive, releasing the parking brake, and began driving south. "Shiro. Get out that map you always keep with you. We're on the freeway so it should be an easy route to Mexico."

Shiro nodded as Keith turned on the radio, hoping to hear anything from anywhere. But the radio waves were silent.

Everything was silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for another chapter to come out.  
> A lot of things came up IRL, so... yeah.  
> Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
> 
> -Nova


	3. Is Everyone Okay? (No, Captain.)

Matt groaned in pain as they stopped for the third time in the last hour, so he could get out of the car and puke. Finally, Keith had enough and gave him a plastic bag.

"Here! Puke in that! We're not making any more stops except to relieve ourselves. So, while we're out, boys use the forest, girls-" Keith looked at Allura and Pidge with a blink. "-uh... there's a bathroom over there." He pointed to the diner nearby. "It probably won't flush but at least you don't have to squat in a forest."

"What if one of us guys has to go number 2?" Lance asked with a raised brow, causing one of Keith's eyebrows to twitch in irritation.

"Then follow the girls to the bathrooms, you priss!"

"Woah, woah. Keith, babe, calm down..." Shiro stood between Keith and Lance. "Lance. You knew the answer to that. Don't aggravate Keith, you know, our driver. The one who could make a split decision to plow us all into a building at high speeds."

Lance's face paled and he nodded. "S-Sorry, Keith..."

Keith just turned from Lance and stormed off, Shiro tailing behind him. Once they were alone, Shiro put a hand on his lover's shoulder and looked at him.

"Everything okay, Keith?"

There was a long bout of silence before Keith started to tremble. "I'm not... Shiro, you labeled me as the team leader in our coalition even though you were a higher-ranking officer. You trusted my judgment, but to be honest, Shiro... I don't feel like I'm much of a leader. Matt is dying, Lance is slowly going insane because he ate human flesh, I'm barely keeping it together myself, Pidge is borderline psychotic because of her dying brother, Allura blames herself for not noticing sooner... the only sane people are you, Coran, and Hunk. And it's asking a lot of you three to keep us together..."

"Keith, you're discrediting yourself. You may not think you do, but you're keeping it together a lot better than most would, given the situation we're in. You're quick to think about our survival and have a natural instinct for it. You know we're on limited rations so cooking and eating what we did would guarantee us at least another day. Who knows, that extra day could be our salvation. Put some more faith in yourself," Shiro smiled at the noirette who gave a half-hearted smile back.

After a tender moment of silence, Keith scratched the back of his head. "We should do our business and then get back to the others."

"Not before I do this."

"Do what-" Keith was cut off mid-sentence as a pair of thick, Asian lips came crashing into his. The smaller male wrapped his arms around his lover, deepening their kiss. Before either of them knew it, both were on the ground in a full-on makeout session. Neither of them knew just how much sexual frustration both had built up. It almost exploded but was carefully teased out over the next half hour.

 

Keith's head popped up when they heard his and Shiro's name called out. He immediately grabbed up his pants and fixed his shirt as Shiro hastily did the same. They both ran back to the group as soon as they could.

"Sorry, Keith and I had to have a talk. Needed to relieve some of the stress being built up..."

Keith and Shiro gave apologetic smiles to the group. All eyes looked at them as a mixture of reactions occurred. Matt tried to hide his weak grin as Pidge rolled her eyes. Allura and Coran were stifling their laughs. Lance's mouth hung open in disbelief while Hunk covered his eyes and just repeated the phrase "oh man".

"What's with everyone's reaction?" Keith tilted his head. Allura went over to him and plucked a leaf from his hair.

"Well, considering you have foliage in your hair and the fact that said hair is a mess on both of you, I'd say you did more than just talk..." She giggled once more, and Keith's face turned as red as his jacket. Shiro's own cheeks were dusted with a bit of pink.

"W-Well, uhm... you all know my and Keith's relationship... so, uhm. Yeah. Enough said..." Shiro immediately walked over to the passenger side of the car and climbed in.

"Keith-"

"Don't you say a fucking word, Lance," Keith glared at the Cuban with slight contempt and a hint of murder.

Lance said no further words as he and the rest of the group entered the vehicle.

"So... now that the love fest is over, can we prioritize getting Matt some help...?" Pidge asked as they started taking off. Keith immediately slammed on the brakes and just stared at the steering wheel. His entire face was the color of a tomato as he inhaled and turned to face Pidge.

"Do you want your brother saved?!" His voice cracked a bit as he tried to contain himself. "Then don't say shit like that!!" He immediately gunned it as he approached 60 MPH in about ten seconds.

 

"Hey, Keith, pull over. We need to get Matt out of the car," Allura called as Keith grunted and pulled over. They'd been driving for eight hours, stopping to fill up once, but otherwise, they were road bound. Matt all but rolled out of the car as he groaned in pain.

"Hey, Shiro, how much further until Mexico?" Lance looked at the brunette, who had a tuft of white hair in the front, with tired eyes.

Said man rubbed a hand over his face as he analyzed the map in his hands. "Well, we're having to take multiple roads because some parts of the main route just aren't drivable. Plus, this van can only really go 60, we still have at least a day and a half ahead of us..."

"Maybe longer," Keith stated as he tiredly walked over to the group of other tired people. Look, everyone's just tired okay?

"Why's that?" Shiro raised an eyebrow as Keith sighed.

"We used all of our gas reserves and the van has about a half a tank left. We need to find gas, somewhere. We've got siphons, so we can siphon them from cars, but it looks like any usable car was either already siphoned or taken as an escape vehicle...."

Lance slumped next to the van as a sense of dread washed over him. "I can't keep going on..."

Keith and Shiro turned their alerted attention to Lance. "Lance...?"

"I keep pretending I'm okay with everything that's happening, but I'm not-"

"Lance. None of us are okay with what's happening. But we... we just have to keep trying..."

"That's not it... I'm talking about Matt. We ate the dude's arm..."

There was silence and Keith felt himself recoil at the statement. Was it his fault that Lance was in such a bad mental state? "Lance... I-"

"No, Keith. This isn't your fault. We all did it... but I couldn't keep it down. It just... I'd rather have starved. It felt disgusting... guess I'm not as good at this survival thing like you are, Keith," Lance smiled half-heartedly up at the usually quick-to-anger Keith. The noirette inhaled deeply and sat down next to the worried Cuban. Shiro nodded and wandered off to see if he could get help from the others in searching for fuel.

"Lance, you're still here, aren't you? Honestly, I didn't think you'd make it far if it came to surviving... but that was back when we were in the Voltron Coalition. Now that I've seen you fight and struggle, I know you've got good instincts. You're a fighter. So, don't give up," Keith looked at Lance with a determined look in his eyes.

Lance half-smiled and nodded. "Yeah. Meal time's almost here. We should probably start making food..."

"Yeah, let's let Hunk handle that. He's good with making it taste like it’s Avant Garde or some shit," Keith smirked as Lance snickered.

"Yeah, you're right."

 

Fuel finding was unsuccessful the previous night, so Keith drove until they found a convenience store in the next town over. Tired and weary, everyone decided to lock the doors and sleep in the van. They'd forage the shop for supplies in the morning.

When morning did come around, a foul odor came with it. The first one to wake up was Allura, then Pidge. And once both realized where the smell was coming from, both shrieked, thus alerting the rest of the car that something was amiss.

Once the realization struck that something stunk, everyone looked to the back seat to see Matt. Still unresponsive. Keith's eyes widened as he watched Allura check his vitals, but she shook her head.

"No, no no no, **NO**!"

Pidge was in quite the denial. However, they had other things more pressing on their mind. "Uh, Keith! Keith!" Keith looked to where Lance was pointing, and his mind froze.

"Fuck! Everyone out. Grab what you can!"

A horde. A zombie horde.

Feet hit the pavement as everyone scrambled to the back of the van, grabbing guns, ammunition, food, water, and other necessary supplies before making a beeline for the convenience store. Once inside, they barricaded themselves in as Shiro did a head count.

"Wait. Where's Pidge?"

Keith immediately turned and looked outside. Pidge was still in the van, cradling her dead brother. He opened the door and hollered for her. "Pidge! Get inside, now!"

"I'm not leaving him! I'm not leaving Matt!"

"C'mon, Pidge! We don't have time for this. We'll erect a memorial for him once we're safe!" Lance tried to reason with her.

"What if this is it!? What if the whole world's gone bad!? We'll never be safe!"

"Pidge, come inside. Please-"

"No! I know where I stand. Matt and I made a promise. We said 'side-by-side until we die'. If he's gone, then so am I!"

The young girl, barely 18, stood tall. She looked at her friends with determination and then, she smiled. "But... I'm not gonna let these assholes take me." She pulled out her small handgun, cocked it, and placed it to temple. She glared at the horde incoming before looking back to her comrades. "It was... nice knowing everyone... I'm glad I was a part of something so amazing like the Voltron Coalition. It was an honor." She pulled the trigger and Pidge was no more.

Lance's eyes widened as Keith shoved him inside and barricaded the door once more. "Lance... no... don't say it... we don't..."

Keith was trembling. Keith was trembling more than he should as supposed 'leader'. They'd lost two comrades in so little time, and there was nothing Keith could've done. "I thought... Allura I thought you said we had more time before Matt entered a critical state!"

"It was only a guess, Keith! I couldn't tell with the limited technology I had! I didn't expect it to spread so rapidly!"

"Guys, calm down... jumping at each other's throats-" Shiro inhaled sharply to calm himself. "-it won't solve anything. We lost two very dear friends just now. Let's not go placing blame. There was..."

"...there was nothing we could do...." Hunk curled his fists as he looked down, hurt reflecting in his eyes. "Pidge chose her fate and Matt... It's all logical and stuff, but still... I feel angry. Like... couldn't we have done anything differently...?"

Allura sighed and slide down the wall of a nearby aisle shaking her head. "If I had had a cauterizing utensil, I might've been able to kill off the germs by cauterizing Matt's arm, but..."

There was a heavy silence as everyone looked visibly shaken. After what seemed like an eternity, Keith spoke once more.

"I... sorry, Allura..."

"No. I got angry, too... I think we're all upset with how things are turning out..."

Another silence passed by before Coran spoke this time.

"Well, we should look for supplies. I don't think our van will be usable-" Coran pointed to the van that had been tipped over and damaged by the horde. "-but we can surely snag parts from it for use in other vehicles, right?" Coran looked to Hunk who nodded.

"So, I guess we have a lot to look for," Hunk stated somberly. Keith's brain kicked into high gear.

"Okay. Hunk, you and Shiro look for another suitable car. Shiro and you are both strong and capable of moving heavy objects, plus you both have the heaviest artillery so if need be you can take out some zombies. But you want to try to be as quiet as possible. I'd start out back and work your way around. Come back through that back entrance with a report. It needs to be a decent sized vehicle to fit all of us. An SUV will work, if need be, I can teach Shiro how to hotwire a car so you two can sit up front and us four can squeeze in the back."

Hunk nodded as he and Shiro headed to the back of the convenience store. "Allura. You and Coran look for medical supplies. We need some more after..." Keith stopped his train of thought and shook his head. "Anyways, we need more medical supplies. Lance, you're with me. Let's look for edible food and water. This place looks to have already been raided so we might not find anything useful. At the very least it seems to have been used as a hideout so it's well barricaded."

Allura and Coran headed off to look for medical supplies as he and Lance silently looked for food and water.

After an eternity of silence, Keith was the one that spoke. "Lance. How's your head? I know you're dealing with a lot..."

"I'm... to be honest, Keith. I'm real messed up... we just watched one of our friends take her own life once she found out her brother died, who was also our friend. We lost two friends in less than twelve hours. Honestly, the future looks grim... how are you keeping it all together, Keith?" Lance leaned back against one of the aisles that were tipped over in front of the store windows and sighed.

Keith found some canned soup and shoved it in his bag before leaning back against said aisled with Lance.

"Honestly, it's hard. And I'm not sure I'm all together. But I'm doing what I have to in order to make sure we ALL survive. That's been my goal since this thing started... wow, almost half a year ago... it's starting to get colder. We'll need to find blankets and other items to stay warm through winter...."

"Keith, focus for a moment?"

"Sorry... But my whole goal was to make sure we all survived. I've failed two of us... but I'm gonna try my damnedest to make sure no one else dies..."

Lance lowered his head with a sad smile. "Do you think... we'll actually make it to Mexico...?"

Keith was silent for a moment before responding. "I know we will."

"What if Pidge was right? What if Mexico's in the same state of decay...?"

Keith was silent once more, mulling it over. He took a shaky breath and shook his head. "I can't believe that. I have to hope that it's alright. Otherwise... what are we all fighting for anyways?"

A heavy silence fell upon both of them as the slowly rose to their feet and began searching for food once more. A lot had happened to them in almost five months. But most of the coalition was still alive and doing fairly okay mentally. Except for Lance.

Lance was far from okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for the next chapter to come out. It didn't look like anyone wanted to read it, so I didn't post.  
> But I already made the chapters so might as well post them. Someone will like them yeah?
> 
> -Nova

**Author's Note:**

> Here you go guys! My Voltron Zombie AU fic.  
> As I mentioned, the name of this fiction was based off the comic dub that used that particular song.  
> It was also a zombie AU.
> 
> Anyways! Thanks!  
> -Nova


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